If by Spanish you mean food from northern Spain, then Meson Asturias on 83 St (I think) is very good, and they have a bargain lunch. If you want pork, there's an Ecuadorean version at Hornado. If you want Caribbean Spanish, there are some Dominican places along Roosevelt, which I haven't tried, and Rincon Criollo on Junction for excellent Cuban (which is a lot like Dominican).

I'm going to have to disagree that Meson Asturias is very good. The place is very cozy, nice atmosphere. Very old-school, however, the food is just not very good. My companion and I weren't ravenously hungry, so we split the garlic shrimp, chorizo sausages and the cheese platter. In addition, we were served some soup. The shrimps were completely tasteless. The garlic sauce was bland. The chorizos were cut too thick. The cheese was okay. Hard to mess up cheese though. The soup was a tasteless concotion of beans, collard greens and bacon-apparently a very traditionl soup native to that region in Spain. Bacon usually makes everything tasty in my opinion, but in this case it didn't. The waitstaff was pleasant and professional.

Actually, the best Dominican food I've had in Jackson Heights was around the corner from 37th Avenue, (north side) on 93rd or 94th Street, I believe. I think the name is a woman's name. I just went there once with a Dominican friend and the food was so much better than the other places, it wasn't funny. I've been meaning to go back. If I pass by today, I'll try to get the specifics.

I scarfed a big Colombian platter in Jackson Heights yesterday and then went on a walk to look for Dominican and Puerto Rican chow. I saw a place named Quisqueya at the corner of Roosevelt and 97 St. Crowded, worth a look. Elegant it's not.

Actually, I have been to Quisqueya several times. It's nice for soups, but they don't have a big enough kitchen to even make coffee. My favorite, after trying about 4 others in JH/Corona, is the one I mentioned vaguely above. It's not elegant either, but it is clean and bright. And the important thing is that the food is tasty and not too greasy. Some of the others are just for fried stuff. This one is called Niña Restaurant, and it's at 35-61 95th Street, just north of 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights. The phone is (718) 457-5362. I put in the phone number because they deliver all the way to 76th Street. I think they also speak enough English to get an order.

They have a steam table with most of the stuff you would expect to find in a Dominican restaurant, and a lot of it changes daily. I know they have mangú in the mornings, unlike most other places. They also had bluefish and salmon today. In fact, any day you can order mofongo, longaniza, salmon, chicken, ribs, and oxtail. I've been there twice now, both times at lunch, and the food was nice and fresh. Today I had pernil and it was so tender and garlicky, and the skin was perfectly crunchy. They also advertise lunch specials for $5.

Elegant it's not, I said above. But barely a year later I passed by Quisqueya on this bright summery winter day, and elegant it it. They've moved into a brand new building next to their old shack. They have a seafood combination entree for thirty bucks. Most things are less, but they have fewer Dominican stuff than before. They still have mofongo though.